‘s augustusCLUB

2017 | No. 2, Issue 75

The Art of Persuasion: Convincing Corporations That Consumers Care

Most people are familiar with PETA’s colorful One of our most successful tactics has been buying demonstrations and grassroots campaign techniques stock—or working with PETA members who own stock for pressuring corporations to end animal abuse. in the companies that we’re trying to infl uence—so that But there’s another facet of PETA’s strategy that the we can submit shareholder resolutions and attend their public seldom sees: our shareholder annual meetings. This tactic activism and boardroom negotiations has helped us get a foot in with corporate decisionmakers. the door, because companies We’ve had success with some of the hate it when we speak at their biggest names in the business world, yearly “pep rallies.” Even the from Ann Taylor and Anthropologie mere threat of attending such to Zappos and Zara. meetings has opened doors that were previously shut tight. Working Behind the Scenes Before we ever publicly target Dairy’s Dark Secret companies, we always attempt to While our real desire is for the work cooperatively with them. For world to go vegan, we are every one we’ve openly protested, pragmatic and know that such there are dozens more working with a transition won’t happen fast us behind the scenes. enough to affect the animals who are suffering right now. Led by our Corporate Affairs Department, these So while we push hard to promote a vegan lifestyle, we collaborations are one of the most effective areas also do what we can to improve their living conditions, of PETA’s work—we see victories almost weekly as as long as it does not allow people to rationalize a result of our discussions with top executives. continuing to buy meat and milk products.

The Art of Persuasion: Convincing Corporations That Consumers Care ...... 1 Meet Anne Brainard, PETA’s Director of Inside Corporate Affairs ...... 4 Animals Are Wondrous: and THIS ISSUE ...... 6 You Are PETA: Augustus Club Member Ricardo Ferreira ...... 8 augustusCLUB

Here’s one of the dairy industry’s best-kept dark secrets, which has prompted many people to request our vegan starter kit after learning the truth: As documented in a PETA eyewitness investigation, standard dehorning procedures , Feathers, and include burning off calves’ horn buds as they thrash Of course, being vegan isn’t just in agony and smoke rises from their seared fl esh. about what’s on people’s plates—it’s They are not provided with any pain relief. also about what’s in their homes and closets. That’s why we target industries and specifi c companies As the only animal-protection group actively addressing that use animal-derived materials for fashion and the issue of dehorning, PETA has persuaded companies furnishings—including angora, wool, down, and exotic such as Amy’s Kitchen, Baskin-Robbins, Chipotle, skins. And have we ever seen a transformation! Chobani, Compass Group, Dannon, Dean Foods (one of the largest U.S. dairy processors), Dunkin’ Donuts, Thanks to the shocking revelations of PETA Asia’s General Mills (which owns Häagen-Dazs and Yoplait, investigation of angora farms—showing rabbits tied among other brands), Harris Teeter, Kroger, Mondelˉez down and screaming as their fur is ripped out—PETA International (which owns Cadbury, Nabisco, Oreo, and our international affi liates have persuaded more and many European brands), Nestlé, Peet’s Coffee & than 200 retailers to ban angora wool. The list includes Tea, PepsiCo, and Shake Shack to pressure their dairy Ann Taylor, Anthropologie, bebe, Calvin Klein, Eddie suppliers to stop this cruel mutilation while also pushing Bauer, Esprit, Express, Forever 21, Gap Inc., H&M, them to offer more vegan foods. Lands’ End, L Brands, Perry Ellis, PUMA, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfi ger, QVC, Zappos, and many others.

At PETA’s behest, not only did Inditex—the world’s largest clothing retailer and the owner of Zara—stop selling angora, it also donated all 50,000 angora garments in its remaining stock to refugees in Iraq and Lebanon. We have decimated the angora trade: Chinese angora exports are down by 81 percent.

We’re also working to stop the exploitation and abuse of sheep for their wool. Within a two-year span, PETA released six video exposés of the wool industry that © iStock.com/EVAfotografi e © iStock.com/EVAfotografi documented cruelty on three continents, proving that there’s no such thing as “humane” or “responsibly sourced” wool. As a result, top labels are making changes, and this will eventually have an impact on meat prices as well.

For example, designer Stella McCartney and retailer Patagonia suspended all purchases of wool after the release of our video exposé showing workers in Argentina hacking into fully conscious lambs on farms in the Ovis 21 network—a supposedly “sustainable” wool supplier. Luxury goods company Kering also stopped using Ovis 21 as a source for all its brands, including Balenciaga and Gucci.

And retailer Brooks Brothers stopped purchasing wool from a supplier affi liated with two Chilean sheep farms after a PETA exposé revealed that workers had cut off

2 Giving Animals a Future

lambs’ tails and punctured their ears without any pain Our exposé revealed that birds are imprisoned in barren relief, stabbed fully conscious sheep in the neck in order dirt feedlots, where their feathers are sometimes yanked to kill them, causing them to kick frantically as they out while they’re held in a restraining device. At the slowly died, and even skinned one animal alive. slaughterhouse, they’re electrically stunned and fl ipped upside down, and their throats are cut. As a result of our Ducks and geese have no better friend than PETA, exposé, Global Brands Group banned ostrich-derived particularly since we launched our campaign against products from its controlled brands, including David down—the fi rst one of its kind in the animal-protection Beckham, Frye, Jennifer Lopez, Jones New York, Juicy movement. PETA’s exposé of so-called “humane” down Couture, and many others. suppliers revealed that on goose farms across China— where 80 percent of the world’s down and feathers are Cruelty Is Not Entertainment produced—workers stepped on geese’s delicate wings PETA has also achieved major victories in our campaign and necks, tightly bound their feet together, and ripped to end the advertising industry’s exploitation of their feathers out, causing them to scream and bleed. chimpanzees and orangutans, who are removed from their mothers as infants and typically subjected to After meeting with PETA, leading outdoor gear physical and psychological abuse during training, only manufacturer Coleman stopped using down in its to be discarded at roadside zoos when they reach gear, including sleeping , and online clothing adolescence and become too strong to handle. Thanks retailer Haband—which boasts more than 5 million to PETA’s efforts, our list of advertising agencies that customers—stopped selling all down products. have pledged not to use great apes now includes 40 In addition, PETA U.K. persuaded ASOS’ private of the top agencies in the U.S.—including the top 10. label as well And we are out to win over the rest! as Dr. Martens, Hobbs, Nigel Hall In another exciting initiative, PETA and our international Menswear, Reiss, affi liates have persuaded dozens of travel agencies and Topshop to to stop promoting captive-elephant “attractions” go down-free. and the world’s largest travel site, TripAdvisor.com, to stop selling tickets to activities that put wild and PETA also endangered animals (and human travelers) at risk, persuaded including elephant rides, tiger encounters, and Williams Sonoma “swim with dolphins” excursions. and its subsidiaries Pottery Barn and You’re Vital to PETA’s Success west elm—as well It’s often easier to induce companies as Restoration to improve their animal-welfare Hardware, Crate policies by meeting and building & Barrel, and its cooperative relationships with sister store CB2— them, and it’s usually faster and less to offer synthetic expensive than launching a public alternatives to all their down products. campaign. However, if that doesn’t work, you can bet that we’ll launch And the victories for animals keep coming: an effort replete with action alerts Following discussions with PETA, Marriott asking our supporters to make their reduced its use of down bedding by voices heard. 50 percent and Marriott brands Moxy Hotels and AC Hotels banned down altogether! Our supporters then fl ood the companies with e-mails, and we often get calls from CEOs asking us to make When The New York Times broke PETA’s exposé of the them stop. Your voice makes a greater impact than you highly secretive ostrich-slaughter industry in South Africa, can possibly imagine. So keep up the fantastic work, and which supplies ostrich skins for top accessory labels, the thank you for making PETA’s vital corporate campaigns public outcry left the exotic-skins industry reeling. so successful through your generous support!

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A model of persuasive diplomacy, Anne Brainard has led many successful PETA campaigns. She induced Gap Inc., H&M, and Inditex—the three largest clothing retailers in the world—to ban angora wool from their shelves, leading Inditex to donate more than 50,000 brand-new angora items to refugees in Iraq and Lebanon. She also persuaded popular home-goods stores— such as Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, and Restoration Hardware—to offer feather-free bedding and pillows as an alternative to down. N Augustus Club: How did you become involved in animal rights?

Anne Brainard: Like most kids, I grew up loving animals. When I was a child, my family would buy animals from pet stores, and at that time, it made me happy because I thought we were “rescuing” them from the stores and giving them a good home. I didn’t realize that we were actually fueling the demand.

At one point, my family bought a bird. I remember the sound of her wings as she would fl y around her cage and smash herself into the bars. One day, when I was 10 years old, I came home from school and found her dead. There were feathers and blood everywhere. That’s when I realized that animals don’t belong in cages.

I’ve always been committed to fi ghting for causes that MEET ANNE I believe in. As a lawyer, I taught life skills courses to prison inmates, worked with Congolese refugees in South Africa, and advocated for the rights of abused BRAINARD, children here in the U.S. About fi ve years ago, I saw the documentary Food, Inc., and I realized the inherent PETA’s Director of contradiction in loving animals while also eating them. I made the decision to align my actions with my values, Corporate Affairs went vegan overnight (which is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made), and knew that I had found my true passion: advocating for animals.

4 Giving Animals a Future

AC: What brought you to PETA, and what was your AB: I’d have to say our success in getting angora off fi rst position? retail shelves—and the fact that there has been an 81 percent decline in Chinese angora exports. I’m also AB: After I had that epiphany, I immediately began proud of all the advancements we’ve made regarding searching for a new job. I knew that PETA was the most down. [For more details on PETA’s progress in reducing powerful voice in animal rights, so that’s where I set my the use of angora and down, see page 2.] sights. I started out as a corporate liaison and worked my way up to my current position. AC: What makes PETA more successful in this capacity than other organizations? AC: Can you give our members a sense of the corporate negotiation process? AB: We’re the only organization with major campaigns against the use of angora, AB: When we expose cruelty exotic skins, , wool, and down. to animals—for example, So we’re breaking new ground. during one of our eyewitness investigations—we determine AC: Are you optimistic about where the animal-derived long-term changes in society’s items are being sold, i.e., treatment of animals? which companies are buying them. We then show those AB: Absolutely. Demand for companies the abuse being vegan items is higher than ever. infl icted on animals in the Consumers are willing to pay more production of the goods and for items that don’t involve cruelty, urge them to reduce or eliminate and they’re more aware than ever their trade in them. The trick is to of production methods. They want to fi nd common ground—to identify support ethical companies, and they make intersections between their goals and decisions based on their personal values. ours—and then implement mutually benefi cial solutions. AC: Are there any funny career moments that stand out in your mind? AC: Describe a facet of your job that makes you especially happy. AB: One time, I was meeting with a cruise line executive to ask that the ships use pillows made with synthetic AB: I love working with corporate executives who “get down instead of real feathers. He argued with everything it.” It’s common to think of corporations as giving the I said and seemed to dislike me, but I couldn’t fi gure out highest priority to producing goods at the cheapest cost, why. When the meeting ended, he said, “I would have and sadly, animals often pay the highest price. But I’ve more respect for your request if you weren’t carrying a had the privilege of working with a lot of executives who leather purse.” This apparent contradiction really ruffl ed realize that they have an ethical obligation to consider his feathers, so to speak! I then explained that the purse the repercussions of their business practices. Fortunately, was completely vegan, and I tied it back to our request the market supports this mindset: Research shows that by saying, “It’s another great example of companies’ not ethical supply chains and corporate accountability are having to sacrifi ce style or quality by using cruelty-free important to people, particularly millennials, who are materials—be it vegan leather or synthetic down.” expected to outspend baby boomers this year. AC: Is there anything else that you’d like to share I also love collaborating with my coworkers at PETA. with our Augustus Club members? They’re wonderful people who always stand up for what’s right, even in the face of daunting obstacles. AB: I would like to thank them for making such a meaningful commitment to PETA’s work and for AC: What’s been your most gratifying ensuring that we can continue helping animals accomplishment in your time at PETA? well into the future.

5 ANIMALS ARE WONDROUS: Alligators and Crocodiles Which of the following statements about alligators and crocodiles are true?

They like to surf. They like to play with balls and other toys. They give each other piggyback rides for fun. They like to slide down slopes repeatedly. Some have been observed playing peacefully with river otters. One even had a close 20-year friendship with a man who rescued him after he was shot.

If you answered, “All of the above,” congratulations! You are correct!

Unfortunately, these intelligent animals—who are so were confi ned to crowded, barren concrete enclosures clever that some of them respond when called by for years on end and that alligators on a Texas farm name while others know how to use tools to lure prey were raised in pits of excrement-fi lled water inside to them—are raised in appalling conditions and killed dark, windowless sheds and crudely slaughtered in by the tens of thousands every year so that their skins painful ways. can be made into handbags, belts, , wallets, and watchbands. PETA revealed that Hermès uses skins from these farms in “luxury” goods such as Birkin and Kelly handbags But with your help, we’re working to stop this. and that each requires the slaughter of three to With resources provided by Augustus Club members four crocodiles. Public outrage at these fi ndings was so like you, PETA has released scathing video exposés vociferous that Hermès pulled its - bags of the - and crocodile-skin industry. from display shelves in New York City, London, and Paris.

Through fi rst-of-its-kind investigative footage—viewed Last year, eyewitness footage revealed what happens more than 38 million times—PETA showed that to tens of thousands of crocodiles on farms in Vietnam. thousands of crocodiles factory-farmed in Zimbabwe At one of them, about 5,000 crocodiles were kept in Crocodile: iStock.com/nattanan726 • Alligator: © iStock.com/tswinner small concrete enclosures—some narrower than the length of their own bodies—for months at a time. At another, animals were jam-packed into concrete pits.

Video footage reveals that workers electroshocked the crocodiles then attempted to kill them by cutting into their necks and ramming metal rods down their spines. They didn’t die instantly, and experts have found that Alligator: © Dean Perrus | Dreamstime.com crocodilians remain conscious for over an hour after their spinal cord has been severed and their blood vessels cut. But workers took them into an adjacent Handle: © Luminis | Dreamstime.com • : iStock.com room and cut off their skin anyway—a process that takes 15 to 20 minutes.

Two of the factory farms investigated have supplied crocodile skins to Louis Vuitton’s parent company, LVMH. PETA has now purchased just enough stock in the company to attend its annual meeting and will be using this tool to pressure it into joining a growing list of others—including adidas, Adolfo Domínguez, Ann Inc., Arcadia Group (which owns Topshop), ASOS, bebe, H&M, L Brands (which owns Victoria’s Secret), Mango, Nike, Nine West, Overstock.com, and PUMA—that have banned exotic skins following discussions with PETA and our international affi liates.

What You Can Do

It’s not necessary to like particular species in order to want to shield them from abuse; nevertheless, people often turn a blind eye to reptile suffering. But we’re sure that you won’t! Please help us stop this cruelty in the following ways:

If people you know purchase crocodile-skin bags 1. or other accessories, please ask them to visit PETA.org/Investigations to see the cruelty that those purchases could be supporting.

Please write to Bernard Arnault, Louis Vuitton’s 2. chief executive offi cer, using the online form at LVMH.com/contact—or at LVMH, 22, ave. Montaigne, 75008 Paris, France—and ask him to stop selling exotic skins.

Pledge never to buy or wear exotic skins. 3. For tips on animal-friendly fashions, visit PETA.org/WearVegan. Th a n k y o u ! augustusCLUB Giving Animals a Future You Are PETA: Augustus Club Member Ricardo Ferreira

In the late 1990s— neutered (PETA’s mobile clinics offer low-cost and even free after Ricardo Ferreira services) and to let us provide them with better medical witnessed the horrifi c care, and they encourage them to let the dogs live inside Labor Day pigeon or, if the animals are in serious trouble, to relinquish them. shoot in Hegins, Pennsylvania—he I’ve also seen how fi eldworkers, in cases of willful neglect began his journey toward or abuse, partner with local law-enforcement offi cials to animal advocacy. He and document evidence and successfully assist in prosecuting his partner, Julie Beckham, and bringing animal abusers to justice. often participated in PETA demonstrations against circuses as Over the years, I’ve witnessed other major successes well as General Motors’ use of animals in crash testing, as well. PETA has been able to infl uence local authorities and they still attend PETA events whenever they can. in several communities to start talking about and actually pass anti-chaining ordinances. My experiences Ricardo has since become one of PETA’s dedicated with PETA’s fi eldwork have been extremely rewarding. volunteers. After he learned about the terrible plight Every time I return home from a weekend of delivering of dogs who are forced to live confi ned outdoors doghouses, I hug my two adopted pit bulls, Sylvester and PETA’s outreach efforts and doghouse delivery and Nana, who cozily lounge by the fi replace, and I’m program in rural areas near glad that someone is out the Sam Simon Center—our there right now working to headquarters in Norfolk, When I fi rst accompanied PETA make this a better world Virginia—he wanted fi eldworkers as they visited for all animals. to experience it fi rsthand. communities as far south of Norfolk as North Carolina, I’d never Julie and I have found PETA When I fi rst accompanied PETA to be uniquely focused on fi eldworkers as they visited seen so many dogs in my life— reducing animal suffering and communities as far south of mostly pit bulls—living in such highly effective in bringing Norfolk as North Carolina, I’d terrible conditions. about change. It’s important never seen so many dogs in my that the advocacy work for life—mostly pit bulls—living in animal rights continue into such terrible conditions. The doghouses, straw bedding, the future after we are gone, so in addition to our annual food, and treats that we brought for these dogs, along contributions, we have included a legacy gift to PETA in with some much-needed attention, made them so happy our will. We feel that PETA—a streamlined, dedicated, that it was diffi cult to leave them behind. and focused organization—is best poised to use our gift to bring about positive change for animals now and in Since then, I’ve come back several times during the the future. Printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper winter to volunteer with this program. I’ve gotten to know some of the dogs and their owners, and I always look forward to seeing them again—and always hope Ricardo Ferreira and his partner, Julie Beckham, are that their lives will have improved. I’ve also developed both members of PETA’s Augustus Club and Vanguard great respect and admiration for the PETA fi eldworkers Society. They live in Virginia with their two dogs. Ricardo who do this job every day. Not only are they incredibly has visited PETA’s Sam Simon Center several times to caring toward these animals, they also have a special assist with fi eldwork. way of communicating with the owners. They are able to persuade them to have the animals spayed or A version of this article originally appeared on PETA.org/Prime.

8 PETA • 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510 • Gift Planning • 757-962-8213 • [email protected] • PETA.org/Legacy